Seat suspension for motor-vehicles.



PATENTED APR. 10, 1 906.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

in vcntor 0. WERNER.

SEAT SUSPENSION FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16,1905.

IATENTED APR. 10,- 1906.

0. WERNER. SEATSUSPENSION FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16,1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Attest:

in vemor:

No. 817,682. PATENTED APR. 10, 1906.

O. WERNER. SEAT SUSPENSION FOR MOTOR VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 16.1905.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

In ventor:

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICE.

OSCAR WERNER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented April 10, 1906.

Application filed September 16,1905. Serial No. 278,736.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, OSCAR WERNER, a citizen of the United States ofAmerica, and a resident of the borough of Manhattan, in the city,county, and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Seat Suspension for Motor-Vehicles, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to motor-vehicles, and it refers particularly toa novel means of suspension for the rear seats thereof, its purposebeing to minimize the violence of the shocks communicated thereto fromthe rear axle when the vehicle is traversing rough or uneven roads.

As is well known to automobilists, the rear seat in motor-vehiclesaffords less comfortable riding than the front seat for the reason'.rear portion of the-vehicle, as well as the passengers, and, further,must be sufficiently rigid to prevent undue sagging. Hence thesesuspension-springs may not be of a character light enough to adequatelyabsorb the vibrations set up. In other .words, the vehicle rearsuspension-springs cannot adequately serve both functions of yieldinglysuspending the car and of affording a resilient easy-riding motion forthe occupants of the rear seat.

It is the purpose of my invention to remedy the defect referred to, andthis I accomplish by providing an auxiliary lighter sprin support forthe rear seat, which is indepen ent of the car-body, connecting saidseat ositively with the car b a frame or forwar extension which is he (1to the car at a point midway of the vertical planes of the forward andrear axles or midway of the center of gravity of the entire vehicle. Inractice where the center of gravity of the vehicle and the wheel-basecenter are found to be in different vertical planes it may be desirableto connect the localizing member at a point fied form of my improvement.

- midway between said centers, it being the object of my invention toplace said connection in the position where it will be least subject tothe influence of the shocks communicated through the axles .andsuspensory s ringsnamely, in that transverse vertical p ane whichincludes the oscillatory axis of the vehicle.

The connecting member between therear seat'and the car ma be ofa rigidcharacter horizontally pivoted termediate' point or it may be tensionaland in rigid engagement at said intermediate oint. B such means thefixed engagement etween t e rear seat and the car is removed from apoint directly over the rear axle, where it receives the maximum forceof the shocks produced, to a point where the influence of said shocks isdiminished to the minimum, and the effect of these lighter vibraorfulcrumed at said in-.

tions is largely nullified througlh absortion by the lighter or moreresilient c aracter of the auxiliary spring used to support the rearseat.

In order to minimize the force of the horizontal vibrations, such as arecommunicated by the engine, I may mount my localizing member u on aspring-support that is capable of yiel ing horizontally, and in thismanner absorb to a large extent these horizontal vibrations.

My improvements further include the various details of construction andarrangements of parts, which will be described hereinafter and referredto in the accompanying drawings.

Figure embodying my im rovement Fig. II is a partial plan view t ereof.Figs. III and IV I is an elevation of a motor-vehicle are detail viewsof a modified form of support for the localizing member. Fig.V is apartial side view of a motor-vehicle, showing a modi- Fig. VI is apartial plan of Fig. V. Fig. VII is a partial side view of a furthermodification. Fig. VIII is a partial plan of Fig. VII, and Fi s. IX andX are detail views of the support For the localizing member shown inFigs. VII and VIII.

In-Figs. I and II, I have illustrated my improvement in a vehicle whichis provided with a rear seat that is inde endent of and auxiliary to themain car-b0 y, whereby the general external appearance of the vehicle isnot materially altered.-

In said figures the letter (1. indicates a housing or main rear portionof the car-body and, as usual, is supported with the chassis 17 uponleaf-springs, as c, which are carried by the rear axle. Mounted upon thechassis is a transversely-disposed leaf or other suitable spring, as d,that yieldingly supports the rear seat e, which may have a back and sideextension, as e, to afford a proper degree of comfort to the occupants.The spring d is of such tensional quality that it will support the rearseat and its occupants with such degree of resiliency that it may absorbto the greatest possible extent the vibrations set up, and thus affordthe easiest riding attainable.

In order to assist in the support of and to localize the rear seat, alsoto maintain the clearance f between said seat and the part waysurrounding wall 0: of the main car-body, I provide a rigid carrierwhich may be in the form of a frame or yoke or comprise the parallelarms 9 g, extending forwardly of the rear seat to which they areconnected, and said parallel arms at their forward ends being fulcrumedby horizontal studs g g in bearings g 9 carried by the chassis or themain body of the car. Said bearings g 9 as seen in Figs. I and II,comprise uprights mounted upon and bolted to the chassis, providing afulcrum located midway of the vertical planes of the wheel-axes; butsaid bearings may be provided in a transverse plane midway of the centerof gravity or intermediate the centers of gravity and of the front andrear wheel-axes, the exact location of said bearings depending somewhatupon the particucjar construction of the vehicle with which use Whilethe bearings g g are shown in Fig. I

as of a rigid structure, they may be flexible,

as seen in Figs. III and IV, being composed of flat vertical springs gadapted to yield longitudinally of the car, and this being capable ofabsorbing horizontal vibrations produced by the engine. suitablecharacter lmay be disposed at each side of the springs g to limit thedegree of horizontal play allowed the latter.

A shock-limiting device may be interposed between the independent rearseat e and the main body or chassis of the car to limit the movement ofsaid seat relatively to the chassis. Said device may be in the form of adash-pot or the like, or, as shown, it may comprise two angular arms hh, pivotally united at h and adapted, as is usual with these devices, tofrictionally engage to a suitable degree. The outer ends of the arms h hare pivotally connected, respectively, with the base of the independentseat 6 and the main car-body or chassis.

The clearance f between the back and sides 6 of the independent rearseat and the housing a of the main body is sufficient to accommodate theindependent seat and its back and sides in their movement. A. loosecovering Stops, as g g, of any of leather or the like, extends over theclearance f, being connected to the housing a, and

just within the sides of the car-b0 'y, where they are obscured fromView. When used with a car having side entrances, said arms may becurved or dropped, as indicated, to lie below said entrances and thefootboard.

In Figs V and VI, I show a simpler form of construction wherein. thehousing a of. Figs. I and II is dispensed with and the independent rearseat, as i, is supported above the chassis, over an intermediateclearance, by the spring 9' and the,carrier 10. Z indicates ashock-limiting device interposed between the independent seat and thechassis. Instead ofa rigid carrier or localizing member I may, as shownin Figs. VII, VIII, IX, and X, employ a carrier m of leaf-springconstruction that is rigidly connected at its forward ends to uprightbearings, as n, which mayormay not be ofa spring-like character, adaptedto yield horizontally within given bounds. Said carrier m at its rearportion is secured to the rear seat 0, which it supports in a horizontalplane above the chassis.

- The spring-carrier m is more flexible than the main suspensory springsp of the vehicle and is of a tension suitable for su porting the rearseat and its occupants whi e absorbing the vibrations received at itscentral junction with the car-body. A shock-limiting device, as 9, maybe employed with this form of my invention, as in the other formsthereof.

Aswill be evident from the foregoing, the essential features of myinvention reside in the employment of means whereby the rear seat in amotor-vehicle is rendered free from any rigid connection with saidvehicle in the vertical zone of the major jolts and shocks receivedthereby and whereby while said seat is carried by a relatively lightspring-support it is horizontally localized through a fixed connectionwith the vehicle at an intermediate point thereof, where the influenceof the jolts and shocks received is at the minimum.

Having now described my invention, I declare that what I claim is 1. Ina motorevehicle, a chassis, suspension-springs supporting said chassis uon the I 2. In a motor-vehicle, a chassis, suspension-springs supportingsaid chassis u on the front and rear axles, a rear seat, a relativelylight auxiliary spring supportin said seat from the chassis, a frame forsai seat, a localizing connection between said frame and thechassis,-said connection being disposed in a transverse plane centrallybetween the front and rear zones of major vertical shock vibrations, anda shock-limiting device in terposed between the rear seat and chassis.

3. In a motor-vehicle, a chassis, suspension-springs supporting saidchassis upon the front and rear axles, a rear seat, and resilient armssupporting said seat independently from the chassis, said resilient armsbeing mounted at their forward ends in a transverse plane centrallybetween the front and rear zones of major vertical shock vibrations.

4. In a motor-vehicle, a chassis, suspension-springs supporting saidchassis upon the front and rear axles, a rear seat, resilient vtember,1905.

arms supporting said seat independently from the chassis, said resilientarms being mounted at their forward ends in a transverse planecentrally'between the front and rear zones of major vertical shockvibrations, and a shocklimiting device interposed between the rear seatand chassis 5.. In a motor-vehicle, a chassis, suspension-springs suporting-said chassis upon the front and rear ax les, an independent rearseat, resilient means supporting said seat from the chassis, and ahorizontall -resilient localizing connection between sai seat andchassis, said connection being disposed in a transverse plane centrallybetween the front and rear zones of major vertical shock vibrations.

Signed at New York this 15th day of Sep- USOAR WERNER. Witnesses:

' FREDERICK O. BONNY,

F. W. BARKER.

